Education Commons^™

Supervision Of Students In Social Care Education: Practice Teachers' Views Of Their Role, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

This paper presents findings from research about how practice

teachers in social care education in Ireland view their role, in

particular what elements they prioritise and what they see as relatively

unimportant. The aim of the research was exploratory, seeking to

discover commonalities and differences in how practice teachers saw

their role in the supervision of social care students. Q methodology

was used to compare the participants’ viewpoints. Twenty practice

teachers, from varying practice backgrounds and levels of experience,

sorted statements outlining aspects of the practice teacher’s role,

during individual interviews. Analysis indicates participants had two

ways of conceptualising the …

Quizmastery: Students As Bloggers And Testers In Pursuit Of Grammatical Competence, Sue Norton, Odette Gabaudan

Articles

This article considers the challenges confronted by instructors of composition and writing skills in higher education. Identifying key aspects of grammar, syntax, and punctuation, it argues that a grammatically informed terminology is helpful to learner-writers endeavouring to improve the clarity of their written assignments. To aid assimilation of this terminology, and the concepts it signifies, e-learning tools can be integrated into the curriculum so that students can consolidate knowledge through their own construction of it. As they create blogs and peer to peer quizzes, they become more theoretically and practically informed about the basis of effective writing practices.

Analysing The Correlation Between Secondary Mathematics Curriculum Change And Trends In Beginning Undergraduates’ Performance Of Basic Mathematical Skills In Ireland, Fiona Faulkner, P. Treacy, Mark Prendergast

Articles

The phenomenon in which students enter university under-prepared for the mathematical demands of their undergraduate courses, regularly referred to as the ‘Maths Problem’, has been widely reported in Ireland, UK, Australia, and the US. This issue has been of particular concern in Ireland recently, with beginning undergraduates’ performance of basic mathematical skills showing signs of significant decline in recent years. New mathematics curricula, commonly referred to as ‘Project Maths’, were gradually introduced into the Irish secondary school education system from 2010 onwards. These new curricula aim to place greater emphasis on student understanding of mathematical concepts, use of contexts, and …

Supporting Sustainability Through Developing A Learning Network Among Traditional Food Producers: Applications Of Action Learning, Paul Coughlan, David Coghlan, Denise O'Leary, Clare Rigg, Doireann Barrett

Articles

Purpose: The chapter describes and reflects upon an EU-funded research initiative, TRADEIT, which has attempted to develop a learning network among European traditional food producers as one way of contributing to the economic sustainability of the ventures, the social sustainability of the food’s regional character, and the environmental sustainability of food production through the use of traditional methods.

Design/methodology/approach: The chapter describes TRADEIT before moving on to an exploration of learning in organizations and networks. It outlines the action learning research methodology developed and implemented to explore the development of a learning network in TRADEIT. A single case history …

Turning To Case Studies As A Mechanism For Learning In Action Learning, Denise O'Leary, Paul Coughlan, Clare Rigg, David Coghlan

Articles

Case studies are a useful means of capturing and sharing experiential knowledge by allowing researchers to explore the social, organisational and political contexts of a specific case. Although accounts of action learning are often reported using a case study approach, it is not common to see individual case studies being used as a learning practice within action learning sets. Drawing on a network action learning (NAL) project, this paper explores how the process of coaching, articulating, authoring, sharing and editing case studies provided a vehicle for learning and research within a NAL set. The intended contribution of this paper to …

The 12 Apps Of Christmas: An Innovative And Effective Online Student And Educator Support, Frances Boylan

Articles

The 12 Apps of Christmas course is a free open online course that has run at the Technological University Dublin, Dublin, Ireland, in both 2014 and 2015. The 2014 version of this course was aimed specifically at instructors and went on to win the Mobile Learning Division of the International E-Learning Award (iELA) and come joint third-place at the eLearning Excellence Awards run as part of the 14th European Conference on eLearning. The 2015 iteration was aimed primarily at students of all ages undertaking further education, third-level education and/or postgraduate study, but also included additional supporting information for educators. This …